Out and proud performer Ben Platt is right on time for Pride month with a tour that leads him to Illinois. Just 25 miles north of Chicago, this Tony Award winner will be presenting his latest album Honeymind to the masses at the Ravinia Festival.
Longtime fans have watched Platt grow up before their very eyes while navigating the world of theater. His CIBC Theater stint as Elder Arnold Cunningham in The Book of Mormon led him to Broadway, but it was the success of Dear Evan Hansen that propelled his career to new heights.
His movie roles included Dear Evan Hanson’s film adaptation, Pitch Perfect and Theater Camp, all of which paired well with his lead TV part in The Politician as Payton Hobart.
He released several records along the way with Sing to Me Instead and Reverie. His Honeymind tour takes him out on the road again and Plat chatted about it before his upcoming gig.
Windy City Times: Hi, Ben! I interviewed you back in 2013 for Book of Mormon.
Ben Platt: It’s full circle!
WCT: I didn’t know you were gay back then and later I interviewed your best friend Beanie Feldstein and had no idea she was queer either until after the interview. I try to ask everyone how they identify these days…
BP: Yes, we grew up two queer best friends after age 14. We kept it in the family and friends zone for a long time.
WCT: She told me you both did Into the Woods together.
BP: Yes, she was Little Red Riding Hood and so good.
WCT: Talk about the album cover for Honeymind.
BP: For this record, I was inspired by the traditional Americana sound and imagery. It was about reclaiming and repurposing those images, tropes and sounds from a very expressly queer perspective.
The cover inspiration came from two guys at a drive-in in the ‘50s, getting busy in the back seat. It plays with the idea that something like that can be sweet, romantic fun instead of something lurid and private. I wanted to present an image that was purely joyful.
WCT: As far as the tone of Honeymind were you inspired by musicians such as Simon & Garfunkel?
BP: Yes, very much so by Simon & Garfunkel and Paul’s solo work. I loved the warmth and unadorned quality of his music. It is narrative-forward, and songwriting is always the star of the show. The textures of it fell in line with where I am emotionally in my life, in terms of my own comfortability of myself.
I am turning 30, and becoming clearer about my personhood and my longtime relationship. I was really connecting to Paul’s music as I was writing this, so it certainly had a big influence.
WCT: How was it working with another member of the LGBTQ+ community, Brandy Clark?
BP: She fills the exact space that I was inspired by, which is a cross-section of queerness and classic Americana songwriting. She is a brilliant songwriter. We met first and foremost as collaborators on a session to write for my album.
We wrote “Treehouse,” which is one of my favorite songs on the record. We didn’t have it in our minds to do a duet. I didn’t go in thinking she would do a duet with me. As I spent time with the song, and loved working with her so much, it dawned on me that it would be a great opportunity for a two-perspective song.
My favorite kinds of features or duets are when two people contribute to the writing of the song. It was the perfect storm to have us both singing about queer love on a song that we wrote together. On top of that, I never thought that she would grace me with her presence on the whole tour. She is doing that too, so it is such a nice full-package moment of performing that song together. She sets the perfect tone at each of the shows. She is a bona fide gifted songwriter in the space that I am in for this record. It was a great match!
WCT: So she will be with us at Ravinia?
BP: Yes, she will be there.
WCT: Excellent. What is the track “Andrew” about?
BP: It is about growing up as a young, queer kid and falling for a straight person. It is a special unrequited love, where it is not an emotional block or personal feelings that don’t come back at you. It’s a chemical misfire or I would call it a genetic strikeout. When a person is young that can be hard to swallow. Someone may wonder why the universe allows a person to develop feelings for someone else who doesn’t have the capacity to feel the same way.
It is a special type of melancholy that I remember experiencing a few times and didn’t know what to do with it. I wrote the song so I could let that go.
WCT: Some of the new tracks are melancholy like that one in tone. How do you keep a concert upbeat while performing outdoors like at Ravinia?
BP: A large part of the set is pretty joyful this time around which is so nice. I sing songs like “Andrew” and the Joni Mitchell cover “River” from The Politician, which are melancholy, but for the most part, there’s a lot of joy in this album and in the setlist. I find the audience gives me energy and it feels cyclical to give it back.
This particular type of music is going to sit really well in these beautiful outdoor spaces. I have Wolf Trap outside before Ravinia, but I look forward to experiencing the real-life floral canyon energy of being in an outdoor space.
WCT: Have you been to Ravinia before?
BP: I never have. I have only seen photos, and been told how beautiful it is. This will be my first time.
WCT: There’s a pavilion where people will be seated in front of you then there’s a huge grass area where there will be picnics. There’s usually a lot of wine and cheese.
BP: I love it. That’s my vibe!
WCT: How was Boston just a couple of nights ago?
BP: It was beautiful and a great start to the tour. It was fun to slightly modulate the setlist from the Broadway run I did for three weeks. I made it geared towards an on-tour audience. The show is about 80 percent the same. It was nice to start a tour with my band being so comfortable and knowing what our energy is already. We have been prepping inadvertently for weeks and it felt very comfortable.
WCT: What era are you in if this was a Taylor Swift tour and how was this tour crafted?
BP: First and foremost I crafted the show for Broadway. The opportunity at The Palace Theatre was once in a lifetime type of experience.
I wanted Honeymind to be the spine of that show, I knew it would be a great show to bring on the road. I had three weeks to finely tune that setlist. I have only made a handful of adjustments. There were a couple of songs that had to do specifically with being in that building, which wouldn’t make sense in the set anymore. Besides that and having the opportunity to add a couple more of my own originals, this is the first time I have gone on tour where I didn’t have to find the piece as we go. It was ready to go and intact.
I am in my long-run era! It feels like I have done a piece of theater and I am comfortable with it. It is starting to feel second nature. I don’t have the stress of learning new songs every night like I did in New York. It’s nice to just enjoy the audience and the fans.
WCT: Is there a Broadway show you would still like to perform in that you haven’t yet?
BP: My dream is to do a revival of Sunday in the Park with George. That is my favorite musical and it has been since I was a teenager. That role is the one I want most to play.
I’m in no rush to do it and it’s not age-specific. There was a revival in 2017, so maybe after some time goes by. It is definitely on my bucket list.
I am always looking for good, original material, which is hard to find especially in terms of new musicals.
WCT: The last time we talked was before Dear Evan Hansen. What was your takeaway from that experience?
BP: There’s too much to say. It changed my whole life. It was a huge reason why people knew who I was. It has allowed me to do all of the things that I have since then.
The biggest thing is being associated with a piece that was a conversation-starter in a really meaningful way. It helped a lot of people find out who they were. It helped them grow and deal with difficult feelings. To see people now who are in their late teens or early twenties who were kids when it came out, and have it still be meaningful to them, is my most special takeaway.
WCT: Theater Camp resonated with a great amount of people as well. What was one thing you heard from someone about it?
BP: Someone said they were “positively triggered.” I really loved that because it shows the film reflected many people’s strange art program experiences, whether that was at a camp or school or community theater. We have all had similar things happen to us.
The greatest surprise was people who had been on intramural sports teams or clubs. It may not be specifically theater, but it’s the same feeling of the stakes being very high and people taking themselves way too seriously. Everyone grew up with something like that, and that was a sign of success to see so many people feel that the movie reflected their experiences too.
WCT: What are your plans after this tour?
BP: I’m going to get married and go on a honeymoon. The world is my oyster after that!
WCT: Where are you going on the honeymoon?
BP: I am not going to tell you so that I don’t get bugged on it, but we are going out of the country to a nice, warm beachy place.
WCT: I’m glad we met before your fanbase grew out of control. Do you have a name for your fans?
BP: I have heard them called Platties before…
WCT: Are you doing another season of The Politician?
BP: That has been going around but I haven’t heard any information about it in about five years. Ryan Murphy is an elusive guy. If it comes back around I will jump in. I loved that show!
WCT: Is there a cover song you would like to try out but have not yet?
BP: There are several Paul Simon and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young songs that I would still like to do. I would like to cover Dolly Parton too. There’s always room for a good cover song.
WCT: You were nine years old when you were in The Music Man with Kristin Chenoweth, and then performed with her again as an adult recently. How was that full-circle moment?
BP: It was so special. I met her in The Music Man and then she did Wicked with my dad later. She became a Broadway star and she was my guardian angel floating nearby me always. We didn’t have an opportunity to team up until recently. She couldn’t have been warmer, and she’s so talented.
I am excited to see her in the upcoming musical version of Queen of Versailles. She’s about to do an out-of-town tryout in Boston with my director Michael Arden from Parade and my Palace Theatre show.
WCT: Kristin is definitely an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. What are your Pride Month plans?
BP: I will be out there singing my gay songs on tour! [laughs]
For tickets to Platt’s jam in Highland Park on June 28, 2024, please visit ravinia.org and benplattmusic.com.